Football uniform



Feb. 23, 1965 D. MITCHELL FOOTBALL UNIFORM Filed May 15, 1962 F/G. Z.

F/Gj

INVEN TOR.

D. MITCHELL HAL ATTORNEYS r 3,170,163 FOOTBALL UNIFORM Hal D. Mitchell, Provo, Utah (123 Glenview St, Santa Cruz, Calif.) Filed May 15, 1962, Ser. No. 194,868

' 7 Claims. (Cl. 22)

for the knees, and pads for the hips, as well as a sacrum guard. I

The thigh and knee pads are usually built into :a pair of pants, which are held up in ordinary fashion by means of a belt. The hiplpads are sometimes laced into the pants, sometimes worn as a girdle independently of the pants, and sometimes arranged with a midgethold up the pants. In any event, the pants and belt encircle the hip pads when in place on a wearers body and tend to become a functional unit therewith. The belt encircles the waist approximately at the navel, as is usual with dress trousers. Serious difliculties are encountered with such uniforms. These are largely due to the fact that, because the belt is worn above the pivot points of the hips, the distance be- I 3,170,163 Patented Feb. 23, 1965 the weight of knee and thigh pads, which are carried by the pants in essentially conventional fashion, is transmitted to and supported by the lateral sides of the wearers body, as is decidedly advantageous.

Because the waist portion of the pants does not tightly hug the wearers Waist, as in the conventional uniform tween belt and knees changes as the wearer bends over to assume a stance and again as he raises his legs in running. This tends to pull the pants up at the knees and to v pull them down at the belt. Inasmuch as the pants are usually constricted at the knees, the net effect of this tendency is. to actually pullthe pants down at the belt, which loosens the thigh and knee pads and permits them to fall out of position. With .these pads out of their proper protective positions, not only are normally protected areas not protected,but the loose pads are likely to hit the legs with bruising force under impacts commonly encountered in the game. Similardisplacement'of the hip pads uncover vital areas of the body that require protection.

These dilficulties can be and often are overcome by using a stretchable fabric for the pants, but this requires undue tightening of the belt around the waist to give unyielding anchorage and results in restriction of movement for the player as well as abdominal stricture. -Moreover, since the fabric must be stretched if the belt is to remain in place, extra work is imposed on the leg muscles during running. This both slows down the player and tires prematurely.

In the making of the present invention, principal objects were to eliminate the specific difficulties without imposing other difficulties, such as those resulting from the use of stretch fabrics, and to provide better protection for the wearer than is given by conventional uniforms.

In accomplishing these objects, a very important feature of the invention is the supporting of both the pants and the hip pads only at the lateral sides of the wearers body, where there is substantially no change in distance from the knees to the points of support in the various positions the body must assume during play.

This is done by utilizing a pants supporter, preferably of elastic strap formation, which is built into the pants as an undergarment and serves, in eifect, as a belt. As worn, the pants completely cover this suporter or und'ergarment and extend farther up the trunk of the wearers body, while the supporter itself tightly encircles the body adjacent to the hip line, but preferably below the crest of the ilium so as to pass over the pubes in front and over the tail of the sacrum in the rear. The only securement of pants to supporter is at the lateral sides, and this is preferably accomplished by fastening, to the pants, the lower ends of adjustable-length straps which hang down from the belt portion of the supporter for the purpose. This means that which utilizes the usual belt, the shirt or jersey is provided with depending loops at front and sides, through which the belt portion of the supporter is passed before buckling. This integrates pants and shirt or functional unit. I j

A feature of the invention is the anchorage of hip pads and sacrum guards to both shirt or jersey and pants, precific objects and features of the invention will become apparent.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation ofthe right side of n football player wearing the pants and the pants sup-porter components of a a uniform conforming to they invention, the upper portion of the pants being broken away to show the pants supporter andpart of the thigh pad, the remainder of the thigh pad and the knee pad being shown by dotted lines;

FIG. 2, a similar view of the front; a

FIG. 3, a similar view of the right side, but including the lower portion of the shirt or jersey component of the uniform aswell as hip pads and sacrum guard;

FIG, 4, a view corresponding to that of FIG. 3, but in rear elevation;

FIG. 5, a view corresponding to that of FIG. 3, but in front elevation;

FIG. 6, a View similar to that of FIG 3, but showing all of the pants; and

FIG. 7, a view in front perspective of the shirt or jersey alone as it appears when being worn, the lower contour of the rear being indicated by dotted line.

Referring to the drawing:

In its illustrated form, the football uniform of the invention includes a supporter 1t) of elastic strap formation, which is adapted to be fastened around the body under a pair of pants 11 of which it preferably forms a part.

Supporter 10 comprises a belt portion Na and a pair of side straps ltlb, respectively, depending from securement as by sewing-to the belt portion, and being secured at their lower ends-as by sewing 10c--to the lateral sides of the pants 11, internally thereof.

Belt portion 10a is adapted for fastening in place about the trunk of the body of a player adjacent to his hip line and provides a reasonable range of size adjustment by means of a buckle 10c of usual type. Straps 10b are prefer-ably adjustable in length by the provision of buckles 10d, FIG. 1. v

The pants 11 are preferably of the usual style, differing from the conventional, however, in being somewhat longer-waisted than is ordinarily the case and having the jersey into a secure A hip pad and sacrum guard assembly 14 is adapted to encircle the players waist above thehips, so as to be positioned above the belt portion a of supporter. It includes a pair of hip pads 15 and a sacrum guard 16 properly positioned in elastic or stretch fabric belt components 14a and 14b to perform their respective functions in protecting corresponding parts of the body from blows encountered in the game. It is held together by a buckle Me.

A special shirt or jersey 17, having anchor loops 17a depending from its lower front margin along the length thereof, is adapted to be held in place by passing belt portion 10a of supporter'ltl through such loops 17a.

Sets of tie cords 18 or other effective fastening devices, anchored in hip pads 15, securely engage suitable mating devices such as sets of receiving openings in the lower side portions of shirt 17 and in the waist portion of the pants, see 20, FIG. 6, for holding the waist of the pants up and the bottom of the shirt down.

It is preferred to deeply indent, or scoop, the bottom of the back of shirt 17, somewhat as shown at 22, FIG. 7, to provide greater freedom of movement for the player.

Whereas there is here illustrated and specifically described a certain preferred form of football uniform which is presently regarded as the best mode of carrying out the invention, it should be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the inventive concepts particularly pointed out and claimed herebelow.

I claim:

1. A football uniform, comprising a pair of pants having an unusually high waist; a supporter built into said pair of pants, said supporter including a belt portion adapted to encircle the trunk of a player at about his hip line, and side straps fixed to and interconnecting lateral sides of said belt portion and respective lateral sides of said pants, internally thereof; a hip pad and sacrum guard assembly in the form of a belt adapted to encircle and tightly hug the players trunk substantially at the waist, the hip pads thereof adapted to depend over the players hips; a shirt having means along its front lower margin removably attached to the belt portion of said supporter; means releasably securing opposite lateral sides of said assembly to opposite lateral sides of the waist portion of the pants; and means for securely attaching opposite lateral sides of said assembly to opposite lateral sides of the shirt.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the means for attaching the hip pad and sacrum guard assembly to the pants and the means for attaching said assembly to the shirt are tie cords in one releasably threaded through receiving openings in the other.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the means along the front margin of the shirt for attachment to the belt portion of the supporter are a plurality of mutually spaced loops for receiving said belt portion.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the supporter is made of elastic webbing.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1, including girth adjustment means for the belt portion and strap length adjustment means for the side straps.

6. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the bottom of the shirt at the rear is scooped to provide freedom of movement for the wearer.

7. A football uniform comprising a shirt; pants; a hip pad and sacrum guard assembly in the form of a belt adapted to encircle a players trunk substantially at the Waist, the hip pads thereof adapted to depend over the players hips; and fastening means anchored in the hip pads engaging cooperative fastening means in said shirt and pants portion of the uniform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 578,294 Leavitt Mar. 2, 1897 712,248 Braley Oct. 28, 1902 836,213 Rayman Nov. 20, 1906 1,225,799 Goldsmith May 15, 1917 1,528,262 Parke Mar. 3, 1925 1,756,358 Ingram Apr. 29, 1930 2,308,337 McDonald Jan. 12, 1943 2,333,240 Florian Nov. 2, 1943 2,892,193 Sowle June 30, 1959 2,977,602 Cooper Apr. 4, 1961 

1. A FOOTBALL UNIFORM, COMPRISING A PAIR OF PANTS HAVING AN UNUSUALLY HIGH WAIST; A SUPPORTER BUILT INTO SAID PAIR OF PANTS, SAID SUPPORTER INCLUDING A BELT PORTION ADAPTED TO ENCIRCLE THE TRUNK OF A PLAYER AT ABOUT HIS HIP LINE, AND SIDE STRAPS FIXED TO AND INTERCONNECTING LATERAL SIDES OF SAID BELT PORTION AND RESPECTIVE LATERAL SIDES OF SAID PANTS, INTERNALLY THEREOF; A HIP PAD AND SACRUM GUARD ASSEMBLY IN THE FORM OF A BELT ADAPTED TO ENCIRCLE AND TIGHTLY HUG THE PLAYER''S TRUNK SUBSTANTIALLY AT THE WAIST, THE HIP PADS THEREOF ADAPTED TO DEPEND OVER THE PLAYER''S HIPS; A SHIRT HAVING MEANSD ALONG IS FRONT LOWER MARGIN REMOVABLY ATTACHED TO THE BELT PORTION OF SAID SUPPORTER; MEANS RELEASABLY SECURING OPPOSITE LATERAL SIDES OF SAID ASSEMBLY TO OPPOSITE LATERAL SIDES OF THE WAIST PORTION OF THE PANTS; AND MEANS FOR SECURELY ATTACHING OPPOSITE LATERAL SIDES OF SAID ASSEMBLY TO OPPOSITE LATERAL SIDES OF THE SHIRT. 